EFFECTS ON TRADE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27875, 25 January 1956, Page 13

EFFECTS ON TRADE

Minister Warns Watersiders

(Bee. 11.30 p.m.) CANBERRA, Jan. 24. In a warning to the Australian people on the effects of the nationwide dock strike, the Trade Minister (Mr John McEwan) said the interruption of exports would cost the country more than £1,000,000 . a day in wool shipments. It would also cost the country more than £2.000.000 a week in shipments of wheat and barley, but the losses of hard-won orders would far exceed the lost revenue. Mr McEwan said the strike, if continued, could jeopardise and even lose markets Australia had slowly built up over the years. “In addition, favourable selling periods abroad will be missed and inability to deliver on schedule, with competition so intense, could have disastrous effects.” He itemised the effect the strike could have on various Australian exports as follows: Wool.— Because buyers cannot ship wool, auctions will stop and Australia will lose more than £1.000.000 a day. Wheat.— lf wheat is not shipped, storage silos will be choked and wheat will pile up at railheads. Loss of orders for wheat and barley, plus extra storage costs and transportation difficulties, will cost £2.000,000 a week. Butter.— Storage plants would soon be unable to cope with the build-up. Fruit.— Shipments of canned fruit — pears and later, apples—will be barred if the strike continues. Sugar and Meat.— Both these industries would face a series of serious difficulties. Mr McEwan said the economic implications of the strike were so grave that all Australians would be personallv affected. “This is the moment to weigh the consequences to hundreds of thousands of working and farming families, whose standard of living will be affected,” he said. “The cold fact is that the whole national well-being is at issue. If Australia does not export, it won’t earn foreign exchange to buy the cotton to keep the textile mills running, the raw rubber, and . all other raw materials and plants necessary to keep the wheels of Australian industry turning. “It is important for Australians to understand that this is not just a private quarrel between the ship owners and the waterside workers. If we lose exports the lifting of import restrictions will be delayed and made more difficult. If overseas markets are lost, the result will be a fall in the national standard of living.”